Genealogy Research Websites

[Christopher Andress]

I was looking into websites that supposedly provide access to census records
and other information. Before I spend $200+ for full access, can anyone
tell me if they really provide access to all of this information, or is it
relatively limited? I was looking for census record, ship registries,
military records, etc.

Two sites I was looking at are Ancestry.com and Genealogy.com? Would you
recommend either of these site for accessing these types of records? Or are
there better sources?

Thanks in advance!

Chris

[Gjest]

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 18:42:15 GMT, "Christopher Andress"
<[email protected]> wrote:

I was looking into websites that supposedly provide access to census records
and other information. Before I spend $200+ for full access, can anyone
tell me if they really provide access to all of this information, or is it
relatively limited? I was looking for census record, ship registries,
military records, etc.

Two sites I was looking at are Ancestry.com and Genealogy.com? Would you
recommend either of these site for accessing these types of records? Or are
there better sources?

Thanks in advance!

Chris

Ancestry.com and Genealogy.com and Myfamily.com and Rootsweb.com are
ALL owned by the same company.

Use Rootsweb for their free forums and their searches. Then go find a
free outlet to Heritagequest.com (Maybe your local library) for the
census.

Ancestry.com and their affiliated sites are a rip off. They resell the
research of other individuals and the census access you can get FREE
through Heritage Quest.

Use the money you just saved to go buy your wife and or girlfriend
something nice for Christmas.

[Greg Surratt]

On Sun, 05 Dec 2004 03:59:51 GMT, [email protected] wrote:

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 18:42:15 GMT, "Christopher Andress"
[email protected]> wrote:

I was looking into websites that supposedly provide access to census records
and other information. Before I spend $200+ for full access, can anyone
tell me if they really provide access to all of this information, or is it
relatively limited? I was looking for census record, ship registries,
military records, etc.

Two sites I was looking at are Ancestry.com and Genealogy.com? Would you
recommend either of these site for accessing these types of records? Or are
there better sources?

Thanks in advance!

Chris



Ancestry.com and Genealogy.com and Myfamily.com and Rootsweb.com are
ALL owned by the same company.

Use Rootsweb for their free forums and their searches. Then go find a
free outlet to Heritagequest.com (Maybe your local library) for the
census.

Ancestry.com and their affiliated sites are a rip off. They resell the
research of other individuals and the census access you can get FREE
through Heritage Quest.

Use the money you just saved to go buy your wife and or girlfriend
something nice for Christmas.

Thanks! You probably saved me 365 days of grief as I was considering
an Ancestry.com annual subscription for my wife for a Christmas
present. ;-(

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Sun, 05 Dec 2004 10:02:07 GMT, Greg Surratt <[email protected]>
wrote:

On Sun, 05 Dec 2004 03:59:51 GMT, [email protected] wrote:

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 18:42:15 GMT, "Christopher Andress"
[email protected]> wrote:

I was looking into websites that supposedly provide access to census records
and other information. Before I spend $200+ for full access, can anyone
tell me if they really provide access to all of this information, or is it
relatively limited? I was looking for census record, ship registries,
military records, etc.

Two sites I was looking at are Ancestry.com and Genealogy.com? Would you
recommend either of these site for accessing these types of records? Or are
there better sources?

Thanks in advance!

Chris



Ancestry.com and Genealogy.com and Myfamily.com and Rootsweb.com are
ALL owned by the same company.

Use Rootsweb for their free forums and their searches. Then go find a
free outlet to Heritagequest.com (Maybe your local library) for the
census.

Ancestry.com and their affiliated sites are a rip off. They resell the
research of other individuals and the census access you can get FREE
through Heritage Quest.

Use the money you just saved to go buy your wife and or girlfriend
something nice for Christmas.

Thanks! You probably saved me 365 days of grief as I was considering
an Ancestry.com annual subscription for my wife for a Christmas
present. ;-(

I subscribe to the census records only at Ancestry and have for
several years. I would have quit long ago if I was not satisfied.
Heritage Quest is missing some census years but I use both. HQ is
available at home through libraries. Ancestry does more sophisticated
searches - Soundex for example. But I like HQ format better.

There used to be a Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild site where one
could view the Immigant arrivals. It may or may not still be
available. Look at Cyndi's List.

Hugh

[J SCHWARTZ]

Chris and Greg:

There are parts of Ancestry that don't work well, but how many "anything"s
do everything perfectly, be it software, online service, or human being? I
don't consider it a rip off at all, but they definitely could make many
people happier with some improvements, and parts of their service are
worthless IMO, so you have to be careful what you sign up for. Recently
Ancestry added some much needed features so they do respond to customer
demands eventually, but it can take an exasperating long while. Their
census display is slower and the presentation of possible matches is not as
nice as Heritage Quest's, but Heritage Quest has no soundex capability,
only a partial 1930 census, and no 1850 or 1880 census. So I use both
services and would find it difficult to rely totally on just one.

That said, I would start with a subscription to Ancestry's census images.
That probably comes bundled with some other basic stuff, but I can't
remember what. I'd skip the newspaper subscriptions, and the immigration
lists are iffy. The new tree bundle is tempting to me, but I'm trying to
resist. You can get access to Heritage Quest from your home thru some
libraries, and if that isn't possible, you can join the Godfrey Library for
$15, and get it thru them.

I'm currently in the middle of tracking a gigantic family of Schroeders for
a client. The two key men had two marriages, gave their children names like
Frederick/Fred/Fritz/Frederika/Erika..., and jumped around the country from
Illinois to Wisconsin to California. I've had to bounce back and forth
between Ancestry and Heritage Quest to find them. I can't imagine how I
would ever have done it before the online services came along. It's
sometimes hard enough to find people when you know the state they lived in,
but if you need to search the whole country....?

Have fun with whatever you get.

jo

"Christopher Andress" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

I was looking into websites that supposedly provide access to census
records
and other information. Before I spend $200+ for full access, can anyone
tell me if they really provide access to all of this information, or is it
relatively limited? I was looking for census record, ship registries,
military records, etc.

Two sites I was looking at are Ancestry.com and Genealogy.com? Would you
recommend either of these site for accessing these types of records? Or
are
there better sources?

Thanks in advance!

Chris

[Donna]

I use Ancestry.com regularly in searching all my family lines, and I
wouldn't do without it. No, I don't like the way the company does business.
Dealing with them (for me) is a necessary evil, I guess. I'm coming up for
renewal shortly, and I will definitely renew.

I also use HeritageQuest, FamilySearch, RootsWeb, and a million other free
sites on the internet. Each one is a help in some area. No one site or
service does it all.

Are there any other genealogy services that are worth subscribing to? Would
love to hear opinions on this.

Donna in Texas


"J SCHWARTZ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:ycNsd.72$Dr4.0@trndny02...

Chris and Greg:

There are parts of Ancestry that don't work well, but how many "anything"s
do everything perfectly, be it software, online service, or human being?
I
don't consider it a rip off at all, but they definitely could make many
people happier with some improvements, and parts of their service are
worthless IMO, so you have to be careful what you sign up for. Recently
Ancestry added some much needed features so they do respond to customer
demands eventually, but it can take an exasperating long while. Their
census display is slower and the presentation of possible matches is not
as
nice as Heritage Quest's, but Heritage Quest has no soundex capability,
only a partial 1930 census, and no 1850 or 1880 census. So I use both
services and would find it difficult to rely totally on just one.

That said, I would start with a subscription to Ancestry's census images.
That probably comes bundled with some other basic stuff, but I can't
remember what. I'd skip the newspaper subscriptions, and the immigration
lists are iffy. The new tree bundle is tempting to me, but I'm trying to
resist. You can get access to Heritage Quest from your home thru some
libraries, and if that isn't possible, you can join the Godfrey Library
for
$15, and get it thru them.

I'm currently in the middle of tracking a gigantic family of Schroeders
for
a client. The two key men had two marriages, gave their children names
like
Frederick/Fred/Fritz/Frederika/Erika..., and jumped around the country
from
Illinois to Wisconsin to California. I've had to bounce back and forth
between Ancestry and Heritage Quest to find them. I can't imagine how I
would ever have done it before the online services came along. It's
sometimes hard enough to find people when you know the state they lived
in,
but if you need to search the whole country....?

Have fun with whatever you get.

jo

"Christopher Andress" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
I was looking into websites that supposedly provide access to census
records
and other information. Before I spend $200+ for full access, can anyone
tell me if they really provide access to all of this information, or is
it
relatively limited? I was looking for census record, ship registries,
military records, etc.

Two sites I was looking at are Ancestry.com and Genealogy.com? Would you
recommend either of these site for accessing these types of records? Or
are
there better sources?

Thanks in advance!

Chris

[Ron Parsons]

In article <ycNsd.72$Dr4.0@trndny02>,
"J SCHWARTZ" <[email protected]> wrote:

There are parts of Ancestry that don't work well, but how many "anything"s
do everything perfectly, be it software, online service, or human being? I
don't consider it a rip off at all, but they definitely could make many
people happier with some improvements, and parts of their service are
worthless IMO, so you have to be careful what you sign up for. Recently
Ancestry added some much needed features so they do respond to customer
demands eventually, but it can take an exasperating long while. Their
census display is slower and the presentation of possible matches is not as
nice as Heritage Quest's, but Heritage Quest has no soundex capability,
only a partial 1930 census, and no 1850 or 1880 census. So I use both
services and would find it difficult to rely totally on just one.

HQ does have the 1850 & 1880 census, just not the indexes. Use
FamilySearch for 1880 and Google will locate indexes for individual
states for 1850.

--
Ron Parsons

[J SCHWARTZ]

I discovered the 1850 and 1880 images yesterday, under the Browse option,
but without the indexes they are virtually useless for me, except in a very
small town or when I have no choice but to search by address. I already use
Family Search for 1880, but Ancestry has incorporated that year also. I've
never found a site that has comprehensive state wide indexes for Pa for any
year (or any other state, but I haven't looked very hard), but if you know
of one, point me to it. If one has time to dig around for these,and can
find them, great, but I prefer paying to have the entire collection in one
place.

jo


"Ron Parsons" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

In article <ycNsd.72$Dr4.0@trndny02>,
"J SCHWARTZ" <[email protected]> wrote:

There are parts of Ancestry that don't work well, but how many
"anything"s
do everything perfectly, be it software, online service, or human being?
I
don't consider it a rip off at all, but they definitely could make many
people happier with some improvements, and parts of their service are
worthless IMO, so you have to be careful what you sign up for. Recently
Ancestry added some much needed features so they do respond to customer
demands eventually, but it can take an exasperating long while. Their
census display is slower and the presentation of possible matches is not
as
nice as Heritage Quest's, but Heritage Quest has no soundex capability,
only a partial 1930 census, and no 1850 or 1880 census. So I use both
services and would find it difficult to rely totally on just one.

HQ does have the 1850 & 1880 census, just not the indexes. Use
FamilySearch for 1880 and Google will locate indexes for individual
states for 1850.

--
Ron Parsons

[Donna]

I have been able to get good information from the World War I draft
registration card images on Ancestry.com. They come with the basic package.

On the other hand, the obituaries have been useless, except in one instance
over the past year. I have been able in one case to get great information
from the ancestry newspapers, but usually that feature doesn't help.

Donna



"J SCHWARTZ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:I10td.2393$MS6.1930@trndny01...

I discovered the 1850 and 1880 images yesterday, under the Browse option,
but without the indexes they are virtually useless for me, except in a
very
small town or when I have no choice but to search by address. I already
use
Family Search for 1880, but Ancestry has incorporated that year also. I've
never found a site that has comprehensive state wide indexes for Pa for
any
year (or any other state, but I haven't looked very hard), but if you know
of one, point me to it. If one has time to dig around for these,and can
find them, great, but I prefer paying to have the entire collection in one
place.

jo


"Ron Parsons" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
In article <ycNsd.72$Dr4.0@trndny02>,
"J SCHWARTZ" <[email protected]> wrote:

There are parts of Ancestry that don't work well, but how many
"anything"s
do everything perfectly, be it software, online service, or human being?
I
don't consider it a rip off at all, but they definitely could make many
people happier with some improvements, and parts of their service are
worthless IMO, so you have to be careful what you sign up for. Recently
Ancestry added some much needed features so they do respond to customer
demands eventually, but it can take an exasperating long while. Their
census display is slower and the presentation of possible matches is not
as
nice as Heritage Quest's, but Heritage Quest has no soundex
capability,
only a partial 1930 census, and no 1850 or 1880 census. So I use both
services and would find it difficult to rely totally on just one.

HQ does have the 1850 & 1880 census, just not the indexes. Use
FamilySearch for 1880 and Google will locate indexes for individual
states for 1850.

--
Ron Parsons

[Hugh Watkins]

"Greg Surratt" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

On Sun, 05 Dec 2004 03:59:51 GMT, [email protected] wrote:

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 18:42:15 GMT, "Christopher Andress"
[email protected]> wrote:

I was looking into websites that supposedly provide access to census
records
and other information. Before I spend $200+ for full access, can anyone
tell me if they really provide access to all of this information, or is
it
relatively limited? I was looking for census record, ship registries,
military records, etc.

Two sites I was looking at are Ancestry.com and Genealogy.com? Would you
recommend either of these site for accessing these types of records? Or
are
there better sources?

Thanks in advance!

Chris



Ancestry.com and Genealogy.com and Myfamily.com and Rootsweb.com are
ALL owned by the same company.

Use Rootsweb for their free forums and their searches. Then go find a
free outlet to Heritagequest.com (Maybe your local library) for the
census.

Ancestry.com and their affiliated sites are a rip off. They resell the
research of other individuals and the census access you can get FREE
through Heritage Quest.

Use the money you just saved to go buy your wife and or girlfriend
something nice for Christmas.

Thanks! You probably saved me 365 days of grief as I was considering
an Ancestry.com annual subscription for my wife for a Christmas
present. ;-(

Log on as a guest and see what there is and which of the various
combinations of subscriptions interes you
but do take care on the "landings" pages - some find them misleading.

I am one of the many millions of satisfied users and I pay annually
and we are saved long trips to the library
and I can research from the comfort of my own home in the middle of the
night wearing just a t-shirt

I have a very limited budget as an OAP
but an AOL Platinum 1 mb connection (an unlimited dsl is essential for the
images in my opinion)
and ancestry.co.uk are worth any sacrifice.
the UK national archives in Kew are subscribers to 1891 ansd 1881 census

On the rootsweb boards we have a dialogue with ancestry staff and get
results with mistakes we report
corrected about every 2 months

BUT for example welsh parish registers are not even filmed by LDS
so it is essential to visit county archives in Wales and see original
documents too
- there are rumours that ancestry is probably going to digitise them once
the census are complete

about http://www.ancestry.com through the aol genealogy community
I have friends who do looks ups for me of the very few rellies I have in USA

Hugh W

[Ron Parsons]

In article <I10td.2393$MS6.1930@trndny01>,
"J SCHWARTZ" <[email protected]> wrote:

discovered the 1850 and 1880 images yesterday, under the Browse option,
but without the indexes they are virtually useless for me, except in a very
small town or when I have no choice but to search by address. I already use
Family Search for 1880, but Ancestry has incorporated that year also. I've
never found a site that has comprehensive state wide indexes for Pa for any
year (or any other state, but I haven't looked very hard), but if you know
of one, point me to it. If one has time to dig around for these,and can
find them, great, but I prefer paying to have the entire collection in one
place.

Just Google "1850 census index Kansas" or what ever state interests you.

--
Ron Parsons

[J SCHWARTZ]

The first site I tried for Pennsylvania linked directly back to Ancestry.
I tried Kansas too. They all seem to link back to Ancestry, so since I've
already got Ancestry, I think I'll just stay there :}


"Ron Parsons" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

In article <I10td.2393$MS6.1930@trndny01>,
"J SCHWARTZ" <[email protected]> wrote:

discovered the 1850 and 1880 images yesterday, under the Browse option,
but without the indexes they are virtually useless for me, except in a
very
small town or when I have no choice but to search by address. I already
use
Family Search for 1880, but Ancestry has incorporated that year also.
I've
never found a site that has comprehensive state wide indexes for Pa for
any
year (or any other state, but I haven't looked very hard), but if you
know
of one, point me to it. If one has time to dig around for these,and can
find them, great, but I prefer paying to have the entire collection in
one
place.

Just Google "1850 census index Kansas" or what ever state interests you.

--
Ron Parsons

[Ron Parsons]

In article <%hntd.4057$MS6.123@trndny01>,
"J SCHWARTZ" <[email protected]> wrote:

The first site I tried for Pennsylvania linked directly back to Ancestry.
I tried Kansas too. They all seem to link back to Ancestry, so since I've
already got Ancestry, I think I'll just stay there :}


"Ron Parsons" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
In article <I10td.2393$MS6.1930@trndny01>,
"J SCHWARTZ" <[email protected]> wrote:

discovered the 1850 and 1880 images yesterday, under the Browse option,
but without the indexes they are virtually useless for me, except in a
very
small town or when I have no choice but to search by address. I already
use
Family Search for 1880, but Ancestry has incorporated that year also.
I've
never found a site that has comprehensive state wide indexes for Pa for
any
year (or any other state, but I haven't looked very hard), but if you
know
of one, point me to it. If one has time to dig around for these,and can
find them, great, but I prefer paying to have the entire collection in
one
place.

Just Google "1850 census index Kansas" or what ever state interests you.

--
Ron Parsons

About 95% of the genealogy web sites are shills designed to funnel you
back into Ancestry pay sites. Especially those that claim to offer free
information which works out to be only a tease.

--
Ron Parsons

[Ron Parsons]

In article <%hntd.4057$MS6.123@trndny01>,
"J SCHWARTZ" <[email protected]> wrote:

The first site I tried for Pennsylvania linked directly back to Ancestry.
I tried Kansas too. They all seem to link back to Ancestry, so since I've
already got Ancestry, I think I'll just stay there :}


"Ron Parsons" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
In article <I10td.2393$MS6.1930@trndny01>,
"J SCHWARTZ" <[email protected]> wrote:

discovered the 1850 and 1880 images yesterday, under the Browse option,
but without the indexes they are virtually useless for me, except in a
very
small town or when I have no choice but to search by address. I already
use
Family Search for 1880, but Ancestry has incorporated that year also.
I've
never found a site that has comprehensive state wide indexes for Pa for
any
year (or any other state, but I haven't looked very hard), but if you
know
of one, point me to it. If one has time to dig around for these,and can
find them, great, but I prefer paying to have the entire collection in
one
place.

Just Google "1850 census index Kansas" or what ever state interests you.

--
Ron Parsons

http://www.censusfinder.com/pennsylvania.htm

--
Ron Parsons

[J SCHWARTZ]

Like I said, all back to Ancestry, which is where I am anyway.



"Ron Parsons" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

In article <%hntd.4057$MS6.123@trndny01>,
"J SCHWARTZ" <[email protected]> wrote:

The first site I tried for Pennsylvania linked directly back to Ancestry.
I tried Kansas too. They all seem to link back to Ancestry, so since
I've
already got Ancestry, I think I'll just stay there :}


"Ron Parsons" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
In article <I10td.2393$MS6.1930@trndny01>,
"J SCHWARTZ" <[email protected]> wrote:

discovered the 1850 and 1880 images yesterday, under the Browse
option,
but without the indexes they are virtually useless for me, except in a
very
small town or when I have no choice but to search by address. I
already
use
Family Search for 1880, but Ancestry has incorporated that year also.
I've
never found a site that has comprehensive state wide indexes for Pa
for
any
year (or any other state, but I haven't looked very hard), but if you
know
of one, point me to it. If one has time to dig around for these,and
can
find them, great, but I prefer paying to have the entire collection in
one
place.

Just Google "1850 census index Kansas" or what ever state interests
you.

--
Ron Parsons

http://www.censusfinder.com/pennsylvania.htm

--
Ron Parsons